Creatives in the country have to keep on waiting for the reopening of the once mighty entertainment mecca – Blantyre Cultural Centre (BCC), formerly French Cultural Centre—as its renovation period is still behind schedule.
Director of Arts in the Department of Arts in the Ministry of Local Government, Unity and Culture, Humphrey Mpondaminga said Monday that they revisited some of the designs between August and September last year, hence the delays.
“Adjustments were made, based on the plan to restore the facility and improve a number of things. Obviously this will work out and it is all because of the change in designs and that is why we are behind the schedule,” Mpondaminga said.
He said they were aware of the significance and urgency of the matter and that with their colleagues in other departments such as building, they were doing everything possible to have BCC operational again.
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Last year in July, Minister of Local Government, Unity and Culture Richard Chimwendo Banda visited BCC, where he expressed disappointment with the delays.
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The development came barely a day after Arts & Culture reported that rehabilitation works done by Opco Limited on the Amphitheatre had stalled due to technical challenges.
Chimwendo Banda, who toured the entertainment mecca with his deputy Owen Chomanika, indicated last year that the government was putting more resources in BCC, hence rehabilitation has to move fast so that the place can be operational.
“We are even putting more money to BCC so that we can increase its capacity. Creatives urgently need this place.
This used to be a nice place for entertainment as people used to enjoy arts events such as drama, music, etc, but this is not happening now,” Chimwendo Banda said.
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Opco Limited Contracts Manager Evans Mkorongo indicated last year that the K150 million project contract figure would rise in that there were some changes to the designs in order to improve the durability and functionality of the Amphitheatre.
“The delays came in because there were several challenges, one of them being the steel roof design because, at first, it was composite or artificial grass thatched,” Mkorongo said, assuring that the rehabilitation works would finish end November last year.
BCC, which has accommodated top artists in the past years such as Mali’s Salif Keita and Zimbabwe’s Oliver Mtukudzi, was bought by the government from the French in 2011 at K300 million before it was looted by thieves.
